


An Unexpected Ending

by BootyKnot



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, My Brain Needed This Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 16:57:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11833032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BootyKnot/pseuds/BootyKnot
Summary: Rhett rigs the Wheel of Mythicality to land on an ending that Link doesn't expect.





	An Unexpected Ending

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo boy, ok. Here's my second fic. Again, definitely not a writer by trade. This popped up in my head a while ago, and I thought it was something sweet. My brain couldn't rest until it was finished. I hope you all like it!

“I don’t know about this,” Rhett said nervously, wringing his hands, pacing back and forth in Stevie’s office. He looked like he was about to be sick. “Are you sure it’s going to work?”

“Yes,” Stevie firmly replied, stepping in front of Rhett and grabbing his arms, preventing him from pacing further. “We’ve tested the wheel dozens of times. Alex weighed it so that it _will_ land on that specific ending. _Breathe_." She raised her eyebrows and took a big breath in, in hopes that Rhett would copy her and start to calm down. Rhett took a deep breath and Stevie let go of his arms.

“Thanks. I know we’ve tested it, I’m just nervous. This is a big thing. What if something goes wrong? What if Link gets mad?” Rhett wasn’t usually this nervous, but this needed to work perfectly in order for his plan to be successful. His panic level started rising again as his mind ran through all of the possible negative scenarios that could happen.

“Trust me,” Stevie said, sincerity written all over her face, “this is going to be perfect. Link doesn’t suspect a thing, and he’s going to be blown away!” She looked into his nervous eyes, her own starting to well up a little. “You and Link have been best friends longer than anybody I’ve known. And you’ve been in love with each other practically the entire time. There’s no reason that it’s going to go wrong. You belong together.” She wiped away the tear that threatened to fall from her eye and gave a big smile.

“Oh, now don’t you start crying, because then I’ll start crying, and then I’ll be a complete mess!” Rhett exclaimed. They both started chuckling, and Rhett threw his arms around Stevie, giving her a big bear hug. “You’re the best, Stevie. I don’t know what we would do without you.”

With a sly grin, she replied, “You’d be eternally lost, spiral into madness, and end up living under a bridge, trying to rope in passers-by into a daunting conversation about the multiverse. That, or go back to North Carolina to a horribly boring engineering job.”

“You know, you're probably not wrong about that,” Rhett said with a big laugh. “Ok, well, I guess I should get ready for the show,” he said with a big sigh. He took a few more deep breaths and turned to walk out of Stevie’s office. He reached the threshold and turned around. “But what if— ”

“Nope!” Stevie exclaimed, already knowing what Rhett was going to say. “Everything. Will. Be. Fine.” She annunciated the sentence to convey her point. Rhett shook his head in semi-confident agreement and headed out of the door.

Rhett continued down the hall towards the dressing room, thankful that his feet were guiding him to the dressing room by instinct as his mind flooded with too many thoughts. _This is it_ , he thought to himself, _after all of these years, I’m finally going to do it._

Rhett recalled the first time he and Link met, back when they were in elementary school. They formed an instant bond and had been inseparable ever since. When their other friends would talk about girls and dating, Rhett never completely understood why he didn’t quite feel the same way his friends did when it came to girls. And he didn’t dare tell anyone that he had been feeling _something_ whenever he would think about Link. He wasn’t sure what that something was, but it was enough to make him think he was different than his friends. He overcompensated by trying to date more girls than the other boys.

One night during their freshman year of high school, Link came out to Rhett. It was something he had wanted to tell Rhett for many years, but never had the courage to. He quickly left before Rhett had a chance to really talk to Link about it, afraid that Rhett might react negatively. However, Link’s confession had somehow unlocked something in Rhett. He thought back to all those years of dating girls and never really having a connection. He thought about how he had wanted to increasingly be more affectionate towards Link. He thought that it was just their friendship growing stronger. It was, to a point, but it was more than that. He realized that that _something_ he had been feeling towards Link for a long time was love. Rhett’s mind raced as he walked home. _I’ve never thought of other guys, just Link. What does that make me? And come on, McLaughlin, just because Link came out doesn’t mean that he likes you. It just means he doesn’t like girls. But…what if?_ His heart fluttered at the thought of Link liking Rhett as more than just a friend. He thought of holding Link’s hand. Kissing him. It all seemed so right. Like he had found the missing puzzle piece to his soul that made him complete. He didn’t know what he was, he just knew that he wanted to be with Link, and that they needed to talk about it.

That same night, he asked his parents at dinner what they knew about gay people. His mother just looked at him, petrified that he would ask such a thing, while his father spent the next 20 minutes condemning the very thought. Rhett played it off like he was just curious, but deep down he had never felt so scared and alone. He knew that his feelings towards Link were considered a sin, but he couldn’t help it: he knew that he and Link would never be apart. The next day he took Link to their secret spot in the woods.

“Link, I need to tell you something,” Rhett said nervously, unsure of how he would articulate his next words.

“What’s up, Bo?” Link seemed equally nervous. He had thought the worst, and assumed that Rhett was going to tell him they couldn’t be friends anymore because of Link’s recent confession.

“I…I, just…well…”

“Oh gosh, you hate me, don’t you?” Link said shakily, his ocean blue eyes filling with tears.

“What? No! I don’t hate you, Link. I could never hate you! I…I…” Rhett stammered, shaking his head. His nerves were a mess, and his ability to speak basic English seemed to have disappeared. He looked at Link, and before he could even process it, his lips crashed into Link’s, and it was as if all was right in the world. After a few seconds, he realized that Link froze in place. He immediately thought that he made a huge mistake, but then Link melted into the kiss, placing his hand around the back of Rhett’s neck. Rhett gently grabbed the side of Link’s face and rubbed his thumb along his cheek. They both had tears running down their faces, and they continued to kiss each other deeply, yet gently. Rhett had kissed plenty of girls before, but he never felt what he was feeling with Link. This was something new. Something different. Something _right_. Rhett smiled and pulled away from Link, giving his lips a small, tender kiss before speaking.

“I love you. I think I always have, Link. When you came out to me last night, it made me realize so much about myself that I didn’t understand. Everything started falling into place, and I realized that there were feelings I had for you that I couldn’t place. But I know now. I know that I love you and that I want to be with you. Forever.” Rhett looked deeply into Link’s eyes, realizing that they held his very soul.

“I love you, too, Rhett.” Link said, with a smile. He was dazed and astonished about the kiss he just shared with Rhett. “I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time about how I felt. Not just about liking guys, but about how I felt about you.”

“About me?”

“Yes. It was killing me that I couldn’t find the courage to tell you about my feelings, but I guess I don’t have to now,” Link gave a small chuckle, and reached for Rhett’s hand, lacing his fingers with his. He paused for a second, cocking his head and scrunching his eyebrows. “Hey…so you just _assumed_ I liked _you_ , bo? That’s bold.” Link said with a devilish grin.

“Naturally,” replied Rhett, without skipping a beat. “Who could resist _this_ face?” He pouted his lips and wiggled his eyebrows up and down, garnering a laugh from Link.

“You’re an idiot,” Link replied jokingly, “but you’re also not wrong. You’re very cute.” Rhett blushed. “So…what do we do now?” he asked quietly, uncertainty in his young voice.

“Well,” Rhett replied, searching his mind for an answer, “I don’t really know. All I know is that we belong together, and I won’t jeopardize that. My dad was telling me some pretty horrible things he thought about people who are gay, and what other people think about them, so I’m not sure what to do. Damn it.”

“We can keep it between us for now,” said Link. “We don’t need to announce it to the world. Just as long as I know we have each other, that’s all that matters.” Link wrapped his arms around Rhett and hugged him tightly.

“But I want to shout it from the rooftops! It’s not fair!” Rhett said, hints of anger and sadness in his voice.

“I just think it would case a lot of trouble. I mean, you’re the person I’m closest to in the world, and I was terrified to tell you. Can we just keep it between us? At least for a little while?” Rhett could see the fear in Link’s eyes when he said this, and it pained him. He only wanted to see happiness in those beautiful blue eyes.

Rhett agreed, and they kept their relationship a secret until the end of college, when they decided to move to California. It was way more progressive than their small North Carolina town. Rhett had always hated that he had to keep his love for Link a secret, and when they moved to LA, he made a vow to himself that he would one day show the world just how much he loved Link Neal.

When they started to create internet videos, and grew their success into Mythical Entertainment, Rhett knew that it would take a lot of convincing to get Link on board with making people aware of their relationship. They had come out to their parents before moving to California. Link’s mom was hurt, but had slowly come around. She still had a hard time accepting this, but she had known Rhett for most of his life too, and cared about him like a second son. Rhett’s parents were not as understanding. His mother barely spoke to him, and his father had stopped talking to him altogether. It was painful, but in the end, they both knew it was the right thing to do.

“What if people judge us? Say horrible things? What if we lose subscribers or sponsors?” Link was filled with doubt and fear, worried that making their relationship public would be a bad choice.

“People are going to say stupid things about us no matter what we do. You can’t please them all, buddyroll. And if we lose subscribers or sponsors, then we didn’t need them anyway. To hell with them!” Rhett’s determination and confidence eventually won Link over, and when they made an episode about it on GMM, they were astonished that the reactions were mostly positive. Sure, there were people who said horrible things, but they let it roll off of their shoulders. They no longer felt afraid of hiding anything. Rhett was finally able to announce to the world that he was head over heels in love with his Link.

And today, he was finally going to hand over his entire heart and soul to Link.

He was going to ask him to marry him.

He stopped at the doorway of the dressing room, and watched as Link was trying to fix his hair in the mirror. Link looked up and noticed Rhett standing in the doorway.

“How long have you been standing there?” Link said with a chuckle.

“Just got here. I was talking to Stevie about…uh, a new episode idea that popped into my head. Uh...a cooking segment?” _Shit, he’s gonna know I’m lying,_ Rhett thought, trying to look composed but nervous that his face would give everything away.

Link, hopelessly aloof, replied, “Like something on Food Network? You know I can’t cook, right? Remember that time I almost set the kitchen on fire trying to make a peanut butter sandwich?”

Relieved, Rhett laughed. “Yeah, pretty sure you’re the only person in history who has ever done that.”

“Well, the peanut butter was hard, I stuck it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften. How was I supposed to know that there was a bit of the metallic seal still on the jar and that it would cause sparks to fly and the jar to catch fire and melt?!” They both laughed, and hearing Link’s perfect laugh made Rhett’s doubts melt away. He knew he could never live without that laugh.

“I just need to change my shirt, and then we can go film the episode,” said Rhett.

“Ok, I’ll see you on set, baby.” Link reached up and gave Rhett a small, sweet kiss before walking past him and heading towards the set. Rhett changed quickly into his nicest shirt, and made sure his hair looked just right. He walked over to their office and opened the door. He went to his messenger bag that was on the sofa and pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it, just to double check, and saw the white gold band nestled snug, its last moments in its temporary home before _hopefully_ living on Link’s finger forever. He placed the box in his pocket, hoping it would look discreet. He took a deep breath. _Ok McLaughlin, this is it_.

He walked onto the set, and noticed that a lot more of the crew was there than there normally was. Rhett and Stevie filled everyone in on what was going to happen on today’s episode a few days prior, so when Rhett showed up, he caught looks from the crew, and they all looked like they could hardly contain themselves.

Link was already sitting at the desk, pouring water into his mug. Rhett sat to join him.

“Why are there so many people here today?” Link asked quietly as he leaned towards Rhett. “I thought today’s episode was just going to be about ‘Crazy Things People Have Done to Express Love.’ We’re not eating gross things or doing anything silly, right?”

“Oh,” Rhett said, trying to come up with a reason quickly. “It’s…Mike’s birthday, so we were gonna celebrate it on the More; there’s gonna be cake!” That part was true; they had a cake and champagne ready to celebrate after the episode.

“Ooh, nice!” Link said with a wide smirk. Rhett was thankful of how blissfully unaware Link could be sometimes.

“Ok guys, let’s start,” Stevie said, giving a wink to Rhett. Everything was set and the cue to start was given.

Rhett looked into the camera and said, “How far would you go to declare your love?”

“Let’s talk about that.”

The episode was going just as planned. Rhett asked Link multiple choice questions about people who did extreme things to declare their love to someone. Link was amped up because he was guessing correctly on all of the answers. Rhett had made the questions a little easy in hopes to put Link in the best mood possible, so he was thrilled when it was actually working. As they got to the last question, Rhett’s stomach was in knots. He tried to play it cool, hopeful that Link wouldn’t notice. His voice started wavering a bit, and he cleared his throat and took a sip of water from his mug, acting like he just had a frog in his throat. The time was fast approaching, and Rhett knew that in a few moments, he’d ask Link the biggest question he’s ever asked.

“Thank you for liking, commenting, and subscribing!” Rhett said, almost a bit too forcefully, nerves taking over his body completely.

“You know what time it is!” Link said, pointing to the camera and smiling a toothy grin.

Link pulled the Wheel of Mythicality over from the side of the stage, unaware that Alex had weighed it to land on a certain wheel ending. He gave it a spin. Rhett looked around nervously, feeling for the box in his pocket. If Link hadn’t been in such a pumped-up mood from his winning streak, he might have noticed that the wheel felt a _little_ off, and just how strange Rhett, and the rest of the crew for that matter, was acting.

“Tune in to Good Mythical More where we celebrate Mike’s birthday with some cake!” Link said, adorably clueless that the More was not going to be what he thought it would be. It wasn’t even Mike’s birthday.

This was it. The moment Rhett had been waiting for his entire life. They both watched as the wheel slowed down, finally landing on the spot it was supposed to.

“ _Rhett proposes to Link_ ,” Link read, immediately rolling his eyes, thinking that Rhett was going to come up with some silly thing. “Oh, my darling,” Link said with a falsetto voice and funny accent, “You’ve brought me to the most romantic restaurant in town.”

Ignoring Link’s dialogue, Rhett grabbed Link’s hand in his own. Link had an amused face and gave a fake gasp, thinking that everything was an act. It was at that moment that Link looked into Rhett’s eyes and noticed that they were filling with tears. A wave of confusion swept over him as Rhett began to speak.

“Link, from the moment we met, I knew that we belonged in each other’s lives,” Rhett’s voice was shaky, and Link’s expression became even more confused and serious. He looked around and noticed that the entire crew made its way into the room, each person with tears in their eyes.

“Wait,” Link said confusedly, his heart starting to race and his hands starting to shake.

“We had to keep our relationship a secret for a long time, and it cost us a few friends and family members when we came out.” By this time, tears were running down Rhett’s cheeks, and it was at that moment that Link’s lip started to quiver, and he could feel the tightness in his throat as he tried to hold back tears of his own.

“But baby, there is nothing I would change. You know that I have always wanted to shout out to the world that I love you. So here I am, shouting it right now: _I love you!_ ” Rhett got out of his chair and slowly got down on one knee. At that point, the dam burst, and Link started crying unapologetically. His free hand covered his mouth in surprise. The entire studio was filled with the sounds of the crew sniffling.

Rhett continued, “You’re my destiny. My bo. You always have been. Carl Sagan said, ‘we are made of star stuff.’ You and I are made from the same star, Link. The infinite universe couldn’t keep us apart. I love you more than words can define,” declared Rhett. Rhett opened the box to reveal the band.

“Charles Lincoln Neal,” Rhett finally asked, looking at Link with all of his love, “will you marry me?”

“Yes! Oh gosh, yes, Rhett!” Link managed to blurt out, his emotions completely taken over. Rhett smiled the biggest smile he ever gave, slipped on the ring, and started crying. Link practically fell into Rhett’s arms, and they embraced each other. Rhett grabbed Link’s face in his hands and they pressed their lips into the sweetest, most loving kiss. They laughed through their tears, and the crew burst into applause and various whoops behind the camera. They got up off of the floor and sat back in their chairs.

“What the crap, guys? Did you all know about this?!” Link said happily, his teary eyes moving from person to person as they all nodded. “Wait, what if the wheel landed on something else? Were you just waiting until it landed on that ending? And has that ending always been there?!” Link’s disbelief and bliss was making him very talkative; his energy levels were through the roof.

Stevie answered, “Rhett came to me a while ago wanting to do this. We decided to make an episode about people declaring their love so that Rhett could do the very same. Alex and Mike found a way to weigh the wheel so that it would land on that specific spot, and we wrote the new ending just before you got here. The B and C cameras were angled to show different angles of the whole proposal, too!” she declared, sniffling and wiping tears of joy away.

“Rhett, you jerk!” Link slapped Rhett in the arm playfully. “You are, just…incredible. I love you so much!” He looked at Rhett, completely taken aback by the entire situation. He looked down at his band in disbelief, then back to Rhett, who was just beaming with happiness.

“I love you, too, Link. But I have to admit, I was nervous you would say no!” Rhett confessed, realizing now how silly his doubts were.

“Nah,” replied Link, “I think I’ll keep you for a little while longer.” This garnered laughs from everyone, right before a loud pop sounded. It was the cork from a champagne bottle, and it made Link almost jump out of his chair, which of course, made the crew laugh even more. Flutes of champagne made its way to the desk, and the entire crew made their way to the stage to hug Rhett and Link and congratulate them. Alex started to describe the trial and error process of rigging the wheel, and the conversations among the crew were varied and happy. Rhett described in detail how they set up the game in the main episode, and his process of trying to find the perfect engagement band.

The crew gave their final well-wishes and dispersed. Stevie came up to them last and they all hugged and said their goodbyes. Normally they would meet up afterwards to discuss the rest of the day’s plans, but Stevie made sure the rest of the afternoon was cleared for her boys to do whatever they wanted to do. Rhett and Link got up from the desk and headed out of the studio. They grabbed each other’s hands as they walked down the hall. Rhett grabbed his messenger bag from their office, as well as Link’s keys and coat that were hanging nearby, and headed towards the back door. He opened the door for Link, like a perfect gentleman.

“Where are we going, _fiancé_?” asked Link, hope and love beaming from his face.

“It doesn’t matter,” Rhett said, leaning in to kiss Link on the forehead, “we can go to the moon and back, as long as I’m with you.”

“Could we perhaps stop at In-N-Out first? I’m starving!”

Rhett laughed, rolling his eyes at his goofy, beautiful, perfect Link. “Come on,” he replied, grabbing Link’s hand as they walked out, leaving the building behind them and the rest of their lives in front of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. 
> 
> Again, any feedback is welcome.


End file.
